Word Origin & History

evacuate c.1400 (implied in evacuation), from L. evacuatus, pp. of evacuare "empty," used by Pliny in reference to the bowels, used figuratively in L.L. for "clear out," from ex- "out" + vacuus "empty." Earliest sense in English is medical. Meaning "remove inhabitants to safer ground" is from 1934. Related: Evacuated; evacuating.

Example Sentences for evacuate

The commander was allowed to evacuate the city, and fell back toward the national capital.

That is the impolicy of announcing our intention to evacuate Khartoum.

If you are warned to evacuate your home and move to another location temporarily, there are certain things to remember and do.

It'll take all of forty minutes to evacuate, and the Mercutians may be on us by then.

This was certainly pleasure enough for one week; so I ordered my bill, and prepared "to evacuate Flanders."

On November 11, 1914, the Serbians were compelled to evacuate this city.

In spite of his vacillation and final failure to evacuate Dresden, Napoleon had an excellent fighting chance.

Remember, Dr. Harris, we've got to evacuate the city first of all!

Deprived of their leader, and probably hard pressed by the Irish, the Normans thought it prudent to evacuate Limerick.

The despatch reached the French just as they were preparing to evacuate Cairo.